Scissors sharpener



June 12, 1951 w. M. LITTLETON I SCISSORS SHARPENER Filed Dec. 21, 1948wall/3W2 v ATTORNEYJ Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,556,202 sorssons sHARPENER William M. Littleton, Dublin, Ga.

Applieation December 21, 1948, Serial No. 66,475

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improved scissor sharpener, and moreparticularly to a lightweight, portable scissor sharpener which may beused by persons unskilled in the art of sharpening cutlery to provide asuitable and desirable cutting edge on the scissor blades.

Another object of this invention is to provide a scissor sharpener ofthe kind to be more particularly described hereinafter, which is soconstructed and arranged that it may be manufactured at a low,reasonable cost, to permit a wide distribution. l

A further object of this invention is to provide a scissor-sharpeningtool of this kind having spring-pressed, clamping members for securingthe blades of the scissors and the sharpening element to the device, theclamping members being so formed that they may be readily opened byfinger pressure of the operator.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a scissor-sharpeningtool of this kind having provision for changing the sharpening element.The sharpening element is supported on the tool for movement along theedge of a cutting blade to be sharpened, and so supported on the toolthat the cutting element may be adjusted to various, selected,longitudinal and angular positions to accommodate the particular lengthand the angle of the blade to be sharpened.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a scissor sharpener constructedaccording to an embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a top plan view;

Figure 4-. is a fragmentary detail section, taken on the line 44 ofFigure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates generally ascissor-sharpening tool constructed to an embodiment of my invention,which is portable in nature, to be moved where desired, or readilycarried about by a person desiring to use the tool at any particularposition or locality.

The sharpening tool ii) is formed of a flat base member 4 l, whichconstitutes a supporting plate for the scissors to be sharpened and thesharpening element to be engaged with the blades of the scissors.

A spring-pressed, clamping member [2 is carried by the forward edge tosupport a blade of the scissors along one edge of the supporting plateor base H. The clamping member l2 consists of a pair of face-abuttingjaw members l4 and i5, each having a handle portion, as l6 and. Il,respectively, for engagement through a split ring or sleeve 88. Thelongitudinal free edges of the split ring it engage the outer faces ofthe jaw members I4 and 5 for pressing the jaw members together. Thehandle portions I6 and I! extend through openings, as l9, intermediatethe length of the resilient sleeve l8 substantially opposite from thesplit ends of the tube. The formation of the clamping member I2 is suchthat the handles [6 and ll are substantially pivoted in the openings ISfor pressing the jaw members [4 and i5 divergingly apart upon moving ofthe handles I6 and I! together.

The forward, marginal edge, as 26, of the base plate II is downturned atright angles to the plane of the plate to provide for the attachment ofthe clamping member l2. The lower edge of the downturned flange 2% isprovided at the corners thereof with a rearwardly-bent ear'portion 2|which is adapted to clampingly engage one of the jaw members, as M, forsecuring that jaw member to the back side of the flange 26. The jaw I5is disposed on the opposite side of the flange 20 and the upper edges ofthe jaw members l4 and it: are disposed slightly below the plane of theupper surface of the base mem ber II. The clamping member I2 is adaptedto secure a blade, as B, of a pair of scissors on the forward edge ofthe base H, in such a manner that the cutting edge of the blade B willbe disposed above the plane of the upper surface of the base plate H forengagement with a sharpening element E, to be described hereinafter.

A sharpening element E is adapted to be supported above the uppersurface of the base II for engagement with the edge of the blade B ofthe scissors S to be sharpened. The sharpening element E is adapted tobe clamped in a resilient clamping member, as 22, above the base H. Anarm, as 24, is pivotally mounted on the upper surface of the base II bya pin 25 which extends through the base H and through one end of the arm24. The end of the arm 24 is spaced upwardly from the base member H by asuitable washer or spacer 26 about the pin 25. The forward end of thearm 24 is bent upwardly substantially at right angles to the length ofthe arm 24, as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The clampingmember 22 is adapted. to be pivotally mounted on the upper end of theupwardlyextending portion 21 at the forward end of the arm 24.

The clamping member 22 is formed in substantially the same manner as theclamping member l2 described above. The clamping member 22 is formedwith a pair of spring-pressed, clamping jaws 28 and 29 carried by asplit ring or tubular member 30.

The arms 3.1.and32 formed integrally Withthe jaw members 23 and 29',respectively, are adapted to engage through slots intermediate thelength of the sleeve 39 opposite from the split edges. The

handles SI and 32 are substantially pivoted in the slots in the tube 39,whereby upon rocking movement of the handles 9| and 32fdiverginglytogether, the jaw members 28 and 29.are moved divergingly apart forreceiving therebetween the sharpening element E. A pivot pin, as; 34, isloosely engaged between the jaw members 28 and 29 at one end thereof.The pin is so engaged between the jaws 28 and 29-that the jaws may bemoved. apart when it is desired to clamp the sharpening element Etherebetween, the engagement of the pin 36in the jaws 29 and 29 beingsuch .that the free movement of the jaw members may be effected bypressing on the handles 3| and 32. The pin 34 is secured on the upperend of the. free. end portion 27 of the armv 2-2.

In the use and operationof the scissor-sharpening tool It, describedabove, a blade B of, the scissors to be sharpened is clamped between thejaws l lLandv |-0f the clamping member i2. The cutting edge of the bladeB is disposed above the surface of the supporting plate 5!. A suitablerubber bead or cushion, as 36, iscarriedby the clamping member [2between one of the jaw members, as 15, and the surface of the blade B.The cushioning member 35 provides for the application of a clampingforce alongthe length of the blade B between the jaws of the clampingmember, and provides for a uniform force to be applied along the entirearea of the blade B clamped in the member I2.

A sharpening element E, which may be of carborundum, or other suitableabrasive material, is adapted to be resiliently clamped between. thejaws28 and 29 of the clamping member 22. The sharpening element E issecured between the jawmembers 28 and 29 by the force of the resilientsleeve or tube 39. As the sharpening element E1 is only resilientlysecured between the clamping members 28 and- 29, it may be adjusted toany desired position along the length of the-jaw mem-. bers, andtheangular relation between. the jaw members and the sharpening element maybe suitably adjusted as desired. In this manner, the sharpening elementE may be supported for en.- gaging .the cutting edge of the blade B atany desired angle. For removing or adjusting. the sharpening element E,the clamp 22..may be pivoted upwardly about the pivot-pin .34 sothatthe. sharpening element E may be positioned between the jaws 28 and 29free from any obstructionof the base ll.

When the scissor blade B is positioned in the clamp 12, and thesharpening element E is secured in the clamp 22 as desired, the clamp 22is pivoted downwardly about the pin 34 so that the sharpening element E'will engage the cutting edge of the blade B. The operator may then graspthe handles 3| and 32 and rock the clamping member 22 about the pivot25, which secures the arm 2 to the base 5 Rocking of the clampingmember22 and the. sharpening element E about the pivot 25 will provide for themovement of the sharpening element E along the length of the cuttingedge of the blade "5 to provide for the desired sharpening of the blade.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of constructionherein disclosed, but claim all.variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A scissors sharpening device comprising a fiat basemernber, a springpressed clamping member fixed on one edgeof saidbase member for securinga scissors blade tobe sharpened, said clamping member being providedwith a rubber cushion member which serves to insure the application of auniform force over theentire area of a scissors blade held in saidclamping member, anarm pivoted at one end thereof on said base memberfor pivotal movement only ina plane parallel to the plane of said basemember,. a second spring,

pressed clamping member including a pair of separable jaws, a pivot pinon said arm loosely extending-through said jaws for securing said secondclamping member on said arm for pivotal movement thereon in a plane atright angles to the plane of said base, anda sharpening elementsupported in said second clamping member for engagement with said bladeto be sharpened.

WILLIAM M. LITTLETON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 43,752 Alcorn. Aug. 9, 1864905,331 Larsen et al Dec. 1, 1908 1,018,579 Miller Feb. 27, 19121,049,326 Anderson Jan. 7, 1913 1,200,605 Gleckel' Oct. 10, 19161,202,113 Smith Oct. 24, 1916 1,459,589 Downey et'al June 19, 19231,412,769 Jones Oct. 30', 1923 1,660,206 Ortlieb Feb. 21, 1928 1,759,504Brougher- Mar. 11, 1939 1,946,625 Isaacs Feb. 13, 1934 1,990,246 NelsonFeb. 5, 1935 2,087,023 Decker July 13, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry. Date 313,712 Germany Nov. 6, 1917

